The Burden of Fear
by The-Fickle-Lady
Summary: All she wanted was for someone to tell her the truth.
1. Chapter 1

The Burden of Fear

Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach in any way, shape, or form. By now you should know who does.

Summary: All she wanted was for someone to finally tell her the truth.

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"You should hurry home, Yuzu." The store manager Mr. Kumamoto said as he finished bagging her groceries. Yuzu looked outside and up at the sky. It was full of gray clouds. On the street, people seemed in a hurry to get to where they needed to be before the storm started. "Do you have an umbrella?" Mr. Kumamoto asked her. Yuzu nodded her head and patted the side of her school bag. "Right here." She said with a smile. The weather had been rainy lately in Karakura Town, so she, like many Karakura residents, had taken to carrying her umbrella with her almost everywhere. Mr. Kumamoto smiled as he handed her the bags of groceries. "That's good. Wouldn't want my favorite customer catching a cold." He said kindly. Yuzu giggled. "You tell all your customers that they're your favorite, Mr. Kumamoto." She said. "Well it's not a lie." Mr. Kumamoto replied laughingly.

The old man waved goodbye to her as she left. As she stepped outside the small grocery store, Yuzu shivered. It was chilly, at least compared to the nicer weather they had had earlier in the day when it had been sunny and warm. But that had just been the quiet before the storm. As Yuzu began walking down the sidewalk towards home, she wondered what the weather was like at the soccer camp her brother was attending. The small smile that had been playing on her face up until that moment fell into a crestfallen frown. "I wonder what the weather's like where Ichigo really is." She wondered aloud.

Yuzu wasn't nearly as naïve as her father and sister thought she was. She may not have known fully what was going on, but it was impossible at this point for her to not know that her brother's disappearances had to do with something bigger than soccer camp or being some delinquent. Nor was it possible for her not to have figured out that Rukia and the rest of her brother's friends were involved as well. And her father. And maybe even Karin, though even if she wasn't directly involved like everyone else in the world seemingly was, her sister still knew what was up most likely. Soccer camp. Yuzu gave a breathless laugh. They were all so ready to make up lame excuses for why her brother had suddenly disappeared off the face of the earth again. And why? To protect her doubtlessly. But from what, Yuzu wondered dejectedly.

Yuzu was knocked out of her dismal trance as she bumped into someone on the sidewalk. She hadn't even seen them; she had been staring at her feet the entire time. Looking up finally from her shoes with apologies on the tip of her tongue, Yuzu saw whom she had bumped into. Her apologies died on her tongue in fear.

The man before her did not face her, as he was looking intently into a store window as if mesmerized. However, from the side, Yuzu could see he had spiky black hair that fell in his scared face. He appeared to have a light blue stripe tattoo of sorts on the bridge of his nose. The young man wore a purple shirt with the sleeves torn off and tight dark jeans. On at least one of his upper arms he wore a band that matched the choker around his neck. Over all, the young man looked like a real punk except for his expression, which was that of childlike amazement. Glancing at the store window display the punk was staring at, Yuzu saw that it was full set for a rock band, with a guitar, bass, drum set, and a number of amps of display with a mike at center stage. Looking back at the punk, Yuzu wondered if he had even felt her bump into him.

She debated for a moment just walking away without apologizing. If TV and what her classmates said was any indication, punks weren't people you wanted to associate with. For all she knew, grabbing this stranger's attention to apologize for bumping into him could be a mistake she would go on to regret. But then Yuzu thought of her brother and even some of his odd friends. Ichigo had gotten trouble because people thought his hair meant he was some thug, and some of those odd friends he had over, like the bald one and the one with a bunch of tattoos, looked like trouble at first glance but if they really had been bad people Yuzu doubted her brother would have associated with them so amicably. If her brother and his odd friends had taught Yuzu anything, it was not to judge a book by its cover.

"Excuse me, mister?" Yuzu said confidently, putting on a smile as she gently poked the stranger's shoulder. The stranger was seemingly jolted from his reverie then and looked at her with surprise. "Oh, yes?" He said politely. Yuzu could now see the rest of his face. That spiky-ish hair of his only fell in his face on one side, the left side, so Yuzu could clearly see the right side of his face. The light blue tattoo on the bridge of his nose extended across his right cheek, just below his eye and disappeared behind his sideburns. Below the stripe on the far right of his face were the numbers '6' and '9'. Yuzu was at first unnerved by the sight of more tattoos, but continued to smile and persevered. She gave a bow to the stranger. "I would like to apologize for bumping into you just now, sir." She said. When she straightened up, the stranger looked quite confused. "You did…well, no problem, I guess. It was probably my fault though." He said almost shyly, looking back at the window display. Yuzu followed his gaze. He was looking at one of the amps specifically.

"Are you in a band?" Yuzu asked politely. The stranger shook his head. "No, but I'm learning how to play guitar." He said, smiling to himself. "I would buy that amp and take it back with me…" His smile fell. "But right now isn't a good time. Besides, last time I brought something back with me from here my superiors chewed me out for making a ruckus." He sounded so dispirited, Yuzu observed. His eyes were sad too, she noticed now as she finally looked into them. All at once, she felt like she was overstepping some invisible boundary and quickly averted her gaze away from his eyes. "I hope everything gets better, mister." She said, deciding it was best to leave now. "Maybe next time you come to Karakura Town, you'll be able to get that amp." The stranger smiled weakly. "Hopefully." He replied.

Yuzu was giving the stranger a parting smile when she felt a little splash on the tip of her nose. Blinking at first in confusion, she looked up at the steely gray sky and then down at the sidewalk. Tiny dark spot after tiny dark spot began to appear around her and the stranger and then on their clothes in growing speed. "Oh!" Yuzu gasped. She set down her groceries and began hurriedly digging in her school bag for her umbrella. She found and pulled it out. Opening the pink contraption, Yuzu then struggled to pick up all her groceries again while still holding her umbrella and school bag in the other hand.

"Here," The stranger said, reaching for two of the bags of Yuzu's feet. "Allow me to help you." He offered kindly. Yuzu smiled at the stranger in thanks and relief. "Thank you." She breathed. Yuzu ended up carrying only two of the grocery bags. The stranger kindly offered to carry the other five. "I live just a few blocks away." She explained as they began walking. "Are you sure you'd like to help? I wouldn't want to keep you from anything important or derail you from where you were going before." She said worriedly. The stranger shook his head. "It's no problem. I was heading in this direction anyways. Which reminds me: do you know where Kurosaki Clinic is exactly? The directions I was given were vague to say the least." The stranger said. "I live there!" Yuzu said, astonished by the man's request. It was the stranger's turn to be surprised. "You mean you're—you're one of Ichigo Kurosaki's family members, aren't you?" Yuzu nodded her head. "Yes, I'm his sister, Yuzu Kurosaki. Who are you?" She asked curiously. "My name's Shuhei Hisagi. I guess you could say I'm an acquaintance of your brother." The stranger, Shuhei Hisagi, explained.

"I never knew Kurosaki had younger sisters." Hisagi said a minute or so after their proper introductions to one another. "Not that he never talked about you—I'm sure he's talked about you to his closer friends—but Kurosaki and I haven't really interacted personally." Hisagi explained. "How do you know my brother then, Mr. Hisagi?" Yuzu asked confusedly then. "He's a friend of some friends really. You might have met them when they were here." Hisagi replied. Yuzu thought back to those strange new friends of her brothers who had showed up out of the blue that one day. They were hard to forget. "Did one of them have lots of tattoos? And another was a really pretty woman with, uh…long strawberry blond hair?" Yuzu asked, choosing her words carefully. Hisagi nodded, smiling slightly. "That would be Renji and Rangiku. They're some close friends of mine and your brother." As they came to stop at a corner, waiting for the light to turn so they could cross safely, Yuzu began chewing on her bottom lip.

"Mr. Hisagi…" Yuzu began. "Yeah?" Yuzu took a deep breath. "Do you—" A car flew past then, sending up a splash that hit both hers and Hisagi's legs. Hisagi sighed exasperatedly beside her and gave a shake of each now- damply wet leg. "Great." He grumbled before turning to her. "Are you okay?" He asked. "Fine." Yuzu replied monotonously, though on the inside she was mourning the opportunity to ask how exactly Hisagi's friends, such as Renji and Rangiku, had met her brother in the first place.

From then on, hers and Hisagi's idle chit-chat was more about the bad weather and Karakura Town as a whole then themselves and Yuzu was unable to find an opportunity to ask about her brother again. They arrived at the Kurosaki residence just as the rain started to intensify in its downpour and they were quick to enter the household.

"Dad, Karin, I'm home!" Yuzu announced as she entered the household, closing her umbrella, Shuhei right behind her, closing the door. "And I brought a guest!" She added. Leaping from behind a corner, Isshin Kurosaki appeared, barreling towards his daughter with a maniac expression of glee. "My darling Yuzu is home!" He cheered, tears in his eyes. Sighing, Yuzu took her recently closed umbrella and reopened it just as her father came within arm's length, creating a barrier between her and him. The wet plastic audibly smacked him in the face and through a sheen on pink, Yuzu could see an outline of her father's momentarily dumbstruck face, his mouth agape as if in horror. A minute ticked by before Isshin jerked his face out of her umbrella and fell back on the foyer floor to wallow in self-pity. Behind the pink plastic shield, Yuzu heard her father let out a cry like some mournful banshee.

"Why must you be so cold-hearted, Yuzu!? What happened to Daddy's little girl!? And why would you open an umbrella indoors—don't you know that's bad luck!?" He cried with melodramatic sorrow. Yuzu heard footsteps approach from behind her father's weeping form and looked up and beyond the umbrella to see Karin appear with a bored expression from around a corner. "Welcome home." Karin greeted dully. Her bored expression became piqued with interest at the sight of young man standing behind her twin. "Who's he?" She asked with a tilt of her head.

Suddenly, Yuzu's umbrella was ripped from her grasp and tossed away with startling ease by her previously wallowing father. Isshin gave Hisagi a dark scowl so overdramatic that neither Yuzu nor her sister could really take it seriously. Hisagi, on the other hand, grew visibly nervous and cast Yuzu a questioning look. "Yuzu…Who is this man?" Her father asked icily. Yuzu smiled as she introduced their guest. "This is Shuhei Hisagi, a friend of Ichigo's. He's here to…to…" Yuzu looked at Hisagi with puzzlement. "Why are you here?" She asked. Then an upsetting thought suddenly struck her. "Oh, please don't tell me you're here to see Ichigo!" She cried.

Thankfully, Hisagi shook his head. "Actually, I'm here to speak to you, Mr. Kurosaki." Hisagi said, looking at Yuzu's father. Isshin's expression sobered. "Right. Follow me." Isshin said. Yuzu and Karin watched their father lead their guest away, leaving them in the foyer alone.

"Yuzu," Karin began listlessly. "Please tell me you aren't going to start bringing weirdoes home like stray cats every other week like Ichigo."

A half hour later, dinner was simmering on the stove. Yuzu was just setting the table when she wondered if Hisagi would be staying for dinner. Despite what her sister had complained about earlier, Yuzu didn't want to treat Hisagi like an unwanted guest just because he was another member of her brother's seemingly endless array of odd friends who came out of seemingly nowhere. And since Ichigo wasn't around to behave like a proper host, Yuzu supposed she would have to. She was the one who brought Hisagi to their home in the first place after all.

Thinking it was best to just ask him herself, Yuzu headed towards her father's office where he and Hisagi had been cooped up since Hisagi's arrival. She approached the door quietly, her slipper clad feet padding softly against the wooden floor, making little to no noise. As she drew closer to the office, the mummer of voices grew louder, bit by bit. Yuzu was preparing to knock on the door when she overheard her father's slightly muffled voice through the door say, "I always knew there was a possibility that my son wouldn't be able to return." Yuzu froze, but then timidly pressed her ear to the door. She prayed she had misheard.

"Your son is a great asset to the Soul Society, sir." Hisagi said. "Head Captain Kyoraku wanted me to inform you of that. If his presence wasn't such a near necessity, the Soul Society wouldn't be asking him or your family to give up so much for us. It seemed like only a remote possibility before, but considering the recent developments, that remote possibility appears to be becoming more and more likely. My condolences, sir." Hisagi said behind the door. Yuzu's eyebrows drew together in confusion. Soul Society? She mouthed in incomprehension. And who was this Head Captain Kyoraku person? And why did he feel he had to keep Ichigo from coming home?

Her father sighed deeply behind the door. "What am I going to tell Karin and Yuzu?" He grumbled exasperatedly. "Excuse me…um, Captain Shiba," Hisagi began timidly as if not sure of his words. "Please, just call me Isshin, Hisagi. I am no longer a Captain, nor do I bare the Shiba name." Yuzu heard her father say. She only grew more confused. "Isshin, sir, if I may, I would like to enquire at the behest of Head Captain Kyoraku about what you plan to do." Hisagi said. "It should be fairly obvious." Isshin replied. "Tell Shunsui that he can count on me to be present at the final battle." Yuzu couldn't stand to hear anymore. She quickly padded away from the office door and back to the kitchen.

Karin was standing over one of the pans on the stove, which had been turned off. She was poking at the contents of the pan with a spatula with a bewildered expression. "What's the deal, Yuzu? The chicken was beginning to burn." Karin asked as her sister entered the room. "You're usually so on top of—are you okay?" She asked worriedly upon looking at her sister. Yuzu shook herself and smiled reassuringly. "I'm fine. I just…I just don't feel well." She lied, and then she gently pushed her sister away from the stove. "Here, let me. You go tell Dad that dinner's ready." She said and Karin gave a hesitant nod.

Hisagi did in fact end up staying for dinner at Isshin's behest. "Thank you for the meal, Mr. Kurosaki. I hope I'm not troubling you too much." Hisagi said politely as they all took their seats. Hisagi was seated across from Isshin and next to Karin. Yuzu sat next to her father and across from her sister as usual. "It's no trouble at all, but really you should be thanking my daughter Yuzu. She does all the cooking around here." Isshin said almost proudly, giving Yuzu a pat on the back. Hisagi smiled at her from across the table. "Thank you then, Yuzu. For both this dinner and for showing me the way here." He said. "You're welcome, Mr. Hisagi." Yuzu replied softly before digging into her dinner finally. Beside her, her father chuckled. "I imagine Shunsui's directions weren't that great. Now that I think of it, that guy hasn't even been here once, not even when he came to see Ichigo's friends at school." Isshin pouted. "Some friend he is." Across the table, Karin gave her father a dubious look. "Who's Shunsui?" She asked. Isshin waved her off. "Just an old friend of mine from back in the day before I met your mom." He gave a nostalgic sigh and seemed to go slack in his chair. "Boy were those the days. Drinking with the guys, ditching paperwork," Suddenly, Isshin smiled lecherously. "Rangiku's sweet rack." He sighed dreamily once again, even as Hisagi blushed profusely across from him. Rangiku, Yuzu thought, remembering her conversation with Hisagi earlier. Rangiku was one of her brother's odd friends and Hisagi's too, but that woman couldn't have been much older than Ichigo. How could that Rangiku woman know her father then? Let alone have been old enough to have a…sweet rack before Ichigo was even born? "But of course, I gave that all up for your mother, girls, and I can honestly say that I don't regret it one bit." Her father said with absolute honesty in his voice, in a way redeeming his lecherous behavior just a moment before. Still, Yuzu was left wondering.

She looked over at Hisagi and tried to catch his eye and silently ask how his friend Rangiku could know her father and still look so young. She managed it for a brief instance. Their eyes met for a second maybe two and then Hisagi averted his gaze down to his plate. Yuzu wasn't sure if her message was communicated, and even if it had been, she was unsure if she would get any answers.

"You never said," Karin spoke suddenly. "How did you come across Hisagi, Yuzu?" Her father and sister's eyes were suddenly on her. "Well, Mr. Hisagi was staring into a store window and I bumped into him. I apologized and was going to go but then it started to rain. Mr. Hisagi offered to help me carry the groceries." Yuzu explained. Isshin looked at Hisagi with a grin. "Well aren't you a knight in shining armor." He teased playfully. Hisagi appeared to grow embarrassed at Isshin's teasing. "It was nothing, sir. I was heading here anyways." He said quietly, bringing his drink to his lips.

Yuzu nearly didn't do it, but her lips and tongue seemed to act of their own accord. "Why?" She asked bravely and everyone at the table looked at her with traces of surprise. She had said it rather loud. "To speak to your father." Hisagi managed to answer. "Yes, but why?" Yuzu persisted. "I mean, you never said." Isshin frowned down at her. "Now, Yuzu, that's private." He chastised. "Yes, but…" Yuzu trailed off. Should she admit that she had eavesdropped on their conversation earlier, she wondered. But if she did, what would they do? Rebuke her for eavesdropping and never answer her question probably. "Yes, but what about…what about Ichigo?" She asked instead. "I mean, what other reason would one of his friends come to talk to you if not about him?" Isshin grew quiet for a long moment. Hisagi looked as if suddenly put on edge and Karin seemed surprised by her twin's sudden outburst. "Yes, it was about your brother." Isshin finally said. Yuzu grew hopeful for a moment, a smile coming to her lips. "And?" She asked. "And…there's great news from soccer camp!" Isshin exclaimed jovially, standing up in his chair. "Your brother has got some scouts looking at him!" Isshin cried enthusiastically with a huge grin and crocodile tears in his eyes. "Isn't that great news, my darling daughters!?" Isshin cheered. Yuzu swallowed the urge to scream and forced a thin smile. "T-That's—that's great, Dad!" She said and everything that followed in the next few moments seemed to happen behind a frosted glass window in her eyes. Karin made some snarky comment and Hisagi quickly followed with some excuse about being a councilor at the camp Ichigo was attending and all Yuzu could do was smile through her internal anguish and say how proud she was of her brother while on the inside she just wanted to scream for them to all stop lying already until her throat was raw. She hoped that Karin and her father thought the tears welling in the corners of her eyes were that of pride.

After dinner, Karin volunteered to do the dishes, giving Yuzu a chance to do her homework for that evening finally. She climbed upstairs intent on taking refuge in hers and her sister's shared bedroom for awhile. Maybe math would take her mind off of her brother, she hoped futilely. In the hallway upstairs, she came across Hisagi exiting the bathroom. Spotting her, he bowed politely. "Thank you once again for everything, Yuzu." He said. "It was nothing, really." Yuzu replied limply. All she wanted to do was get to her room. Hisagi frowned slightly at her. "Well, I still appreciate it. The meal was one of the best I've had in awhile. Your brother is very lucky to have such an excellent cook in his family." He complimented. "And I'll be sure to tell him as much myself when I get back to camp. Is there any messages you'd like me to pass along while I'm at it?" Hisagi inquired considerately. Yuzu thought about it for a moment. Even if soccer camp, Hisagi being a councilor, and those scouts were all blatant lies, one thing Yuzu was sure wasn't a lie was that Hisagi knew where her brother was and was going there himself soon. "Tell him that I miss him, and that when he gets home I'll make him whatever he wants for dinner, so remember to hurry back and not to forget about us down here, okay?" Hisagi nodded resolutely "I'll be sure to tell him." He promised.

Heavy footsteps could be heard from the stairs and Yuzu turned around to see her father climbing his way to the second floor. He smiled at both her and Hisagi. "Oh, there you are, Hisagi. I was going to ask you if you had a jacket before you left. It's coming down like cats and dogs out there." Isshin said. Hisagi shrugged. "I don't mind. It's not like I need to go very far before…" He trailed off, glancing quickly between Yuzu and her father. Isshin nodded but still protested. "Still, it wouldn't do to let you walk out there and get soaked to the bone." He waved his arm towards Ichigo's room. "Come on, I'll lend you one of my son's sweatshirts or something. You're about the same size by the looks of it." Hisagi looked uncomfortable and glancing at Yuzu specifically with unease. Yuzu herself didn't know why. Her eyes followed her father's form as he passed her and Hisagi in the hall as he walked towards Ichigo's bedroom door. "Sir, really I'm fine. I wouldn't want to borrow any of your son's things without his knowledge or any guarantee that I could return it later." Hisagi protested. Isshin gave a dismissive hand wave. "Nonsense, it's just a jacket. Besides, it's not like Ichigo's really going to be needing any of his clothes any time in the future at this rate." Her father said. The last bit was said under his breath in an almost cynical grumble. Regardless, it made the ocean of unshed tears within Yuzu come to a boil.

"You never tell me the truth." Yuzu seethed with clinched fists. Her fingernails dug into her palms painfully, but not an ounce of her being really cared. Her father and Hisagi both looked at her with confusion. "What was that, Yuzu?" Isshin asked. Yuzu fixed her father with a glare. "You. Never. Tell. Me. The. Truth!" Yuzu repeated louder, enunciating each word clearly and concisely. Isshin looked shocked by her sudden outburst. "Sweetheart, what are you—" He began but Yuzu cut him off. "Not even now with me right in front of you do you even care to tell me the truth!" She shouted and all of a sudden her eyes were beginning to hurt in that way they did right before you broke down in tears. For some reason, the fact she was right at the brink of crying for the second time that evening made her even angrier. "You act like I'm some blissfully blind fool who can't put two and two together—_soccer camp_, I mean really!?" Yuzu gave a scornful laugh and rolled her brown eyes which soon came to land on Hisagi. "And you," She continued. "You don't truly believe I'd buy any of that…that charade you and him threw together at the dinner table, did you? Did you seriously think I could be that naïve or stupid enough to completely forget our earlier conversation on the way here?" Her fury receded then like a wave on sea shore, taking with it her energy. Her shoulders sagged and she felt so tired. Part of her just wanted to shove past her father and into her bedroom to collapse into bed for the rest of the evening. But really, she didn't think she could stand to be in this house for a moment longer, emotionally-exhausted or not. "I wish I was as clueless as you think I am." She said before turning around and heading downstairs.

As she passed through the living room, Karin tried to ask her something but Yuzu didn't catch it. She was moving too quickly. She wasn't quite running, but her pace was quick enough that before her father could reach the living room as well, Yuzu was already out the front door. Outside, it was just as bad as her father had told Hisagi it was. She was soaked by the time she made it to a bus stop some blocks away. The metal awning offered some much needed shelter from the rain, even if the sound of the little water droplets hitting the steel at rapid speeds was slightly annoying in her current irritable state. But it was better to sit there on that bench and listen to annoying dings than to run aimlessly through Karakura Town in the dark.

She didn't know how long she had been sitting there, staring at her own bare feet, when the white toes of a pair of black sneakers came into view. When she looked up, Hisagi was standing before her. Part of her was annoyed, but another part of her argued it was better than her dad or Karin. Still. "Tell my dad I'll be back in awhile. I just need some time to cool off, okay?" She muttered, looking back down at her feet. Hisagi didn't reply. Not unless sitting down next to her without a word could be considered a reply. "What was that back there?" He asked after a moment.

Yuzu stubbornly didn't answer him for a long time. She had only met Hisagi today and so far the only thing she knew about him was he was just another liar like all her brother's other friends and even her own family. Just like everyone else, he had no qualms with lying to her face if it meant hiding what her brother was up to. Even though what Ichigo was currently involved in could apparently end up keeping him from ever returning home…"Is my brother ever going to come home, Mr. Hisagi?" Yuzu asked softly. She patiently awaited his response. "It's not my place to answer that." That reply made her want to scream.

Yuzu stood and began walking across the street. It was better she left in search of a new sulking ground than stay a moment longer and risk flying into another rage. She was only a few steps out from under the awning however when she felt Hisagi seize her wrist and yank her underneath the metal structure once again. "What are you trying to do? Catch your death? Get struck by lightning? Listen, your brother would probably never forgive me if I just let you walk off like that and possibly let you get yourself seriously hurt." Hisagi chastised her. Yuzu scowled at him and ripped herself out of his grasp. "Well who am I supposed to blame if my brother gets hurt because of you and all your weird friends!?" She shouted heatedly. Hisagi was taken aback at first, but slowly, understanding crept into his dark eyes.

"How much do you know?" He asked seriously.

"Not a lot." Yuzu admitted. "But enough to know my brother isn't at some soccer camp and that you aren't a camp councilor! Now tell me the truth!" She demanded.

"I can't." Hisagi stated firmly. "It's not my place. I could get in serious trouble for telling you anything, first of all. Second, if your father and brother haven't told you, they must have their reasons. They're just trying to—"

"To protect me! I know—but I don't want to be protected!"

"Why?" Hisagi asked, his dark brows knitting together. "They just don't want you to be scared. The things your brother deals with would only make you more worried and more afraid. Why would you want to know about them?"

"Because that is the responsibility I took upon myself when I was five years old!" Yuzu screamed.

Hisagi looked shocked. He seemed utterly speechless at the young girl before him's words. So Yuzu took his speechlessness as her opening. "When my mother died, I took on many burdens. Others may have viewed it as a tragedy that a little girl would have to take up so much responsibility at such a young age because of her mother's passing. But I took it upon myself gladly. I was happy to do everything in my power to help my family. The cooking, the cleaning, the shopping; I was glad to do it all. But household chores weren't the only thing I took up when my mother died. Fear was also a responsibility I welcomed with open arms. In my mother's place, I began to constantly worrying about my family. There's never a moment I'm _not _afraid, Mr. Hisagi. Never a moment when I'm not worried about Karin getting hurt at soccer practice or my dad working himself to death at the clinic or about my brother getting himself mixed up in some sort of trouble. My family may think they're protecting me when they hide the truth from me. They may think they're sparing me from the fear, but what they don't realize is I would welcome all the fear that comes with knowing the truth if it meant I could help my brother in any way with all that he and his friends are going through." When she was finished, it felt like a great weight had been lifted from her chest and she no longer felt like crying. Hisagi looked down at her with wonder. "You're definitely Kurosaki's little sister." He whispered with a slight smile. Yuzu smiled back at him, proud of being compared to her elder brother.

Hisagi sat back down on the bench under the awning and gestured for her to sit as well. "Settle in. It's…a long story to say the least." And he explained everything. Or at least as much as he could in such a brief amount of time. Soul Reapers. Hollows. The Soul Society. Ichigo's strange new friends and how met them when trying to rescue Rukia. Aizen and his Espada and Arrancars. The Soul King. Fullbringers. Quincies. The war. It was all so much to take in and Yuzu frankly had a hard time believing it at first but really, in some convoluted way, it all made sense in the end. When Hisagi was seemingly done explaining, Yuzu had to take a few deep breaths, in and out, before speaking. "Thank you." She breathed.

"You're welcome. But honestly, I don't see what you plan to do with all this new information." Hisagi said. Yuzu smiled brightly at the Lieutenant. "Just tell my brother if you see him that me and Karin are cheering for him and that when he gets home, I'm going to make him all his favorites for dinner." She said cheerfully. Hisagi chuckled lowly and reached over to ruffle her hair. Yuzu pouted at him, not appreciating being treated like a little kid or some dog. "You're a good kid, Yuzu, I can tell. Your brother's a lucky guy to have you for a little sister." He said fondly. Yuzu swelled with pride.

From around the corner, a set of headlights appeared. Slowly, a police car pulled up right next to the bus stop much to Yuzu's confusion. The window rolled down and an officer's head poked out with a flash light that he shown up and down upon Yuzu and Hisagi with suspicion in his eyes. "We got a report about a young girl screaming at a man at a bus stop from this neighborhood. I'm guessing that was you, miss?" Embarrassed, Yuzu nodded her head. "I'm sorry, officer. I-I was angry with my cousin here, you see." She quickly lied. The officer cast Hisagi a highly suspicious glance. Hisagi frowned and avoided the officer's eyes. The officer crooked his finger, beckoning Yuzu forward. She leaned in and the officer whispered in her ear, "If you're in trouble, miss, just say the word. I'll give you a ride home." Yuzu pulled away and shook her head earnestly. "I'm fine, officer, honest. My cousin and I were just fighting because…well…" Yuzu struggled to find a plausible excuse. She didn't have much experience with nasty family squabbles, which she was thankful for, but at the moment, it was a great disadvantage. She hadn't a clue what could cause an argument so bad between two cousins that one would have ran out into a thunder storm in the late evening, the other chasing after them. Yuzu certainly couldn't tell the officer that she and Hisagi had been arguing over her family concealing the fact her elder brother was a being known as a soul reaper from her. "She got mad because she felt like everyone was treating her like a little kid." Hisagi interjected. Yuzu and the officer looked at him simultaneously. Yuzu with relief that he had come up with an excuse for her, the officer with mistrust. Before the officer could say anything, however, Yuzu confirmed Hisagi's story. "He's telling the truth, officer. I was just so angry. Everyone kept treating me like a little girl even though I'm not one anymore. I got so angry I ran right out the door after yelling at my dad. But Hi—Shuhei, my cousin, followed after me and he and I had a long talk. I feel much better now, and we were just heading home when you came along, sir." Yuzu explained.

The officer was quiet for a moment, eyes shifting between Yuzu and Hisagi dubiously. Yuzu hoped that her slip up with Hisagi's name didn't tip off the officer to their lie. Hisagi looked nervous as well. It was odd how such the punkish young man could look so much like a nervous puppy.

"Yuzu!" A voice called from down the street over the rain and rolling thunder.

Yuzu, Hisagi, and the officer all looked down the road to see her father running towards them. He looked relieved.

"Yuzu," Isshin breathed as he came beneath the awning. "Thank goodness." Her father's arms enveloped Yuzu in a tight embrace. His damp shirt felt uncomfortable pressed against her, but Yuzu didn't mind. She hugged her father back, not caring that her own now-dry clothes were getting wet as well from the contact. When they pulled apart, Isshin threw on a stern expression.

"You shouldn't have run off like that, Yuzu. You could have gotten hurt or worse." He chastised.

"I'm sorry, Dad. I was just angry." Yuzu apologized. "But there's nothing to worry about now. Cousin Shuhei explained everything." Isshin looked confused until Yuzu cast a discrete glance in the police officer's direction. Then he understood. "Oh, right. Well, thank you, Shuhei." Isshin said to his 'nephew". Looking away modestly, Hisagi responded, "It was no problem." The officer looked on at the scene with disbelief. He must have been sure before that Shuhei was some punk harassing poor Yuzu, but their charade must have thrown him for a loop.

The officer apologized and drove off a moment later, leaving the three of them under the awning in peace. When the police car turned a corner and disappeared, Isshin put on that stern expression and turned to both Yuzu and Hisagi with it. "What exactly did Hisagi tell you, Yuzu?" He questioned. "Everything pretty much." Yuzu replied, feeling slightly guilty suddenly for going behind her father's back for information. But she shouldn't feel ashamed, she reminded herself. She had every right to know what her brother was risking life and limb for. "Soul reapers, hollows, Quincies. I'm sure I don't know everything, but I know enough now, Dad. Enough to know why you didn't want to tell me. But like I said to Mr. Hisagi, you don't have to protect me from being afraid for my own family's safety. I was doing that without knowing the truth and I'll continue to do it even after finding out all that's going on. And I'm okay with that. It's the mantle I took up when Mom died." Yuzu explained. Isshin looked caught between horror and admiration of his daughter's words.

"Yuzu, are you sure you want to know all this?" He asked. "I mean, it's a lot to take in, and I'd hate for you to get wrapped up in all this. Enough people have been ensnared by this huge clusterfuck of a war. Are you sure you wouldn't rather not know? Because it's not too late." Isshin said gently to his daughter. Yuzu shook her head unfalteringly. "Dad…It's okay. I honestly don't mind being afraid as long as I can offer whatever little help I can to Ichigo and all his friends and allies, even if all I can do is sit here on the sidelines and cheer them on." Acceptance washed over Isshin right before Yuzu's eyes to her relief and he nodded his head understandingly at her decision. "I suppose it was time you knew the truth anyways." He sighed, ruffling her hair. He then smiled at Hisagi, as did Yuzu. "Thanks for the news, Hisagi, and for shedding some light on all my daughter's questions. Good luck out there, and I'm sorry about Muguruma. I heard you looked up to the man." Isshin said consolingly. Hisagi gave a sad smile. "I did, but hopefully I will be able to honor his memory on the battlefield by putting that training he gave me to good use." Isshin nodded. "He'd probably like that."

Hisagi gave a bow. "This is where I take my leave. I've been here too long to begin with. Vandenreich has most likely finished regrouping. They will be most likely make their next move very soon." He straightened to his full height. "I'd hate to impose anymore upon you, but could you please handle the disposal of my gigai, Isshin?" He asked. Isshin nodded. "Not at all. I can pull some strings with the head of the local hospital and have it incinerated by morning." He said. Yuzu didn't know how to react to that sentence, so instead she chose not to. "Good luck, Mr. Hisagi, I hope you, um, live." She said, smiling at Hisagi. "And thank you, for everything." She added, smiling with earnestness. Hisagi smiled back at her. "You're welcome, Yuzu."

Hisagi's body jolted suddenly then. His eyes drifted closed and he collapsed to his knees before falling face first into the pavement. Yuzu nearly let out a shriek, but her father clamped a hand over her mouth to stop her. She looked at him worriedly, but her father simply smiled and pointed to where Hisagi had previously been standing. There, she could make out the faint outline of a person. "Is that…?" She whispered. Isshin nodded his head. Yuzu watched the outline of Hisagi slowly move out into the street. She could make out his figure drawing something like a sword. That must have been the thing called a zanpakuto she realized. He held it out and turned it like a key. There was a rippling in the air in front of him and Yuzu was sure she heard something like doors sliding open. And then those doors slid closed again and the rippling disappeared and Yuzu could no longer see Hisagi's outline or sense his presence.

* * *

**A/N: I worked on this for three days. I hope it came out well. **

**This isn't really meant to be shippy. I just wanted to experiment with how these characters played off each other and also the 'always afraid' thing with Hisagi made him a good choice in my opinion for this piece. I figured he would be the kind of character to respect that.**

**Please review! I'd really like you know what you all think of this. **

**And thank you for reading! **


	2. Chapter 2

The final bell rang and class was dismissed. Every classroom in the school erupted with animated conversation as students gathered their things and made their escapes. "Are you sure you don't want to spend the night at my house, Yuzu?" Yuzu's friend Midoriko asked as the two girls exited their classroom. Yuzu shook her head regretfully. "Karin can't cook, so if I went to your house, she'd end up eating gross convenience store ramen noodles and potato chips for dinner. Plus, I want to be home just in case my dad and brother come back tonight." Yuzu explained. Midoriko frowned worriedly at her. "It's been six days. University tours shouldn't take this long, I thought. My big sister and mom were only gone two days when they went. When did you last talk to your dad and Ichigo, Yuzu?" She asked.

"Last night." Yuzu lied. She felt kind of hypocritical lying to her friend when she herself had been hurt by lies. But it was different, she told herself. Yuzu lying to Midoriko was much different from Yuzu's father and siblings lying to her. All the trouble going on in the afterlife was none of Midoriko's business, and hopefully it would stay that way for a long time. "My dad said Ichigo really loves it there. It's totally meant to be." Yuzu said with a bright smile, though it hurt to think that Ichigo belonged anywhere besides with his family, whether it be university or the Soul Society.

"That's great! I wish my sister could find a university she likes so easily. At this rate she's going to end up not going at all." Midoriko complained. "And I was so looking forward to being the only kid in the house, too!" Yuzu giggled at Midoriko's indignant huffing. The two girls exited the school building and headed towards the bike racks near the side gates of the school yard. They found an uneasy and somewhat panicked crowd o f students encircling the racks.

"A fight?" Midoriko whispered questioningly.

"I don't think so." It was too quiet to be a fight. _Did something happen to the bikes?_ Yuzu wondered. "Let's check it out." Said Yuzu, and she and Midoriko began to shoulder through the small crowd. The girls gasped with horror and froze at what they saw when they reached the front of the crowd.

A young man's body lay stiff and motionless on his front on the ground by the bikes. He wore a black leather jacket and skinny black jeans with biker boots. _A punk delinquent_, Yuzu thought frantically, suddenly recalling the soul reaper Shuhei Hisagi and how he dressed in his temporary human body (a "gigai" according to her dad) a week before. Bravely, Yuzu approached the body, ignoring Midoriko's panicked pleads of "Yuzu", "wait", and "don't" and the rest of the crowd's wide eyes and gasps at her actions. Yuzu got to her knees beside the body and timidly turned the body's head so she could see at least one side of the person's face. Her eyes were met with the sight of a '69' tattoo.

"Hisagi!" Yuzu exclaimed, both happy and shocked to see the soul reaper again.

"Wait, you know him?" Midoriko asked. Yuzu nodded her head nervously.

"He's my cousin." She said, repeating the lie she told the police officer last week.

"Oh, Yuzu, I'm so sorry! We have to call your dad, and an ambulance if someone hasn't already!" Midoriko cried. "I called them already!" A boy in the crowd shouted out. "A few kids went to go get the teachers!" A girl added. Midoriko started hurriedly digging through her school bag. "Just hold on a sec. You can use my phone, Yuzu." She said.

"I," Yuzu paused, nervously noting all the worried and sympathetic eyes on her and Hisagi's gigai. They thought a member of her family was badly injured or worse in the school yard right before her eyes. A few people looked at her with confusion. _I should be crying and acting more worried,_ Yuzu realized with a start. Hesitantly, she wrapped her arms around the gigai and pulled the head into her lap, hoping to put on a show of familial worry. It was strange. She was so used to fear and worry when it came to her family, yet it felt so awkward and difficult to feign it. "Thank you all so much." She said to the crowd and Midoriko with a nervous tremble in her voice.

Just as Midoriko handed Yuzu her cellphone, Karin and her friends made their way to front of the crowd. "Yuzu, what's going on?" She asked. Her eyes landed on Hisagi and she stiffened with shock. "Hisagi?!" She exclaimed.

"Cousin Shuhei collapsed, Karin." Said Yuzu, hoping her sister would understand. She nearly heaved a sigh of relief when understanding lit up Karin's eyes. "He must have gone after that hollow I sensed earlier." Her sister muttered. "What was that, Karin?" Midoriko asked.

"Nothing." Karin dismissed the other girl. "Come on, Yuzu, I'll help you get him onto his back." She said, getting to her knees with Yuzu. Once the gigai was on its back, Karin whispered to Yuzu, "Go through his pockets and look for something that looks like a stupid candy dispenser. With a bunny or duck top maybe." Yuzu went through the jacket while Karin went through the pants, but neither of them found anything but a thinly lined wallet and some "Soul Tickets". "Dammit." Karin muttered.

Yuzu was about to ask Karin what to do next when she spotted something over her twin's shoulder. The faint outline of a person-a spirit. Karin seemed to sense the spirit too then because she looked over her shoulder and sighed with relief. Yuzu watched the outline approach them baited breath. It touched the gigai and disappeared. At that moment, Hisagi's body inhaled sharply and its dark eyes snapped open. The crowd gasped with surprise but then everyone began to chuckle and sigh with relief. Some boys even cheered.

"Oh thank goodness!" Midoriko cried out.

Hisagi sat up from the ground, scanning his audience with flushed cheeks and embarrassed eyes. "Sorry for the circus." He said, turning to Yuzu and Karin. "I didn't have any soul candy on hand." He explained sheepishly. "I have no idea what that is, but I'm glad you're okay." Yuzu replied. Karin grabbed Yuzu and Hisgai's arms. "Come on, let's beat it before the teachers and the ambulance get here." She whispered. The three of them hastily retreated through the side gates of the school yard into the streets of Karakura Town, ignoring the fretting crowd calling after them.

When it seemed they were a safe distance from the curious eyes and ears of Yuzu and Karin's classmates, they stopped in an alley. "Is everything all right in the Soul Society?" Karin asked right off the bat. Hisagi smiled and nodded. "Seeing as how the human world, my world, and Hueco Mundo all still exist, I'd say yes. There was a lot of damage, and we lost a lot of good soul reapers, but the war is over. Thanks to your brother and his friends, we won." Yuzu and Karin cried out with relief and threw their arms around each other in a tight embrace. When they separated, they embraced Hisagi as well.

"Hey now, I get enough dirty looks as it is in this world!" The blushing lieutenant complained. "That last thing I need is to be seen hugging on two little girls in a dank alley way." He laughed uneasily. Karin and Yuzu laughed as they released him. Happy tears slid down their cheeks and dripped from their chins.

"I need to go to the grocery store!" Yuzu announced happily. "I need to get all the ingredients for Ichigo and Dad's welcome home dinner." Her heart sank as she watched Hisagi's smile fall. Karin noticed the change as well.

"Hisagi, is our brother-"

"He's alive." Hisagi interrupted Karin's panicked question curtly. "But he will not be returning to the world of the living ever again. I'm sorry." He informed them solemnly.

"But..." Yuzu trailed off, remembering what she had overheard last week in her father's office. "Not ever?" She asked quietly. Hisagi shook his head. "Never, Yuzu."

"But soul reapers come to the human world all the time. You're here, for God's sake." Karin protested. "Your brother isn't an oridinary soul reaper anymore, Karin. Not that he ever was." Hisagi responded. "He cannot leave come back here. If he did, all three worlds would be destroyed." He explained gravely.

"What about our Dad?" Karin asked. "Why isn't he telling us this? Why you?"

Yuzu's heart skipped a beat in its racing. _Please, no._

"He's injured still and recovering, don't worry. I came here because Ichigo's friends are busy with the clean up of the Soul Society and are healing still themselves in some cases. I met you two last time I was here, so they sent me to deliver this message." Hisagi shifted his weight foot to foot, avoiding eye contact with either girl as he reached inside his pocket and pulled out the "Soul Tickets" from earlier.

"I was told to bring you more of these. I know you already have almost a dozen, but your father managed to get the Head Captain to consent to giving you even more, being Ichigo's little sisters and all." He said, handing the tickets to Yuzu. The girl cried as the paper crinkled in her hands. "There has to be a way for him to come home, Hisagi. There just has to!" She squeezed her eyes shut. "I was going to make him all his favorite foods for dinner. I was going to invite all his friends and make a big banner. Please, Hisagi, there has to be a way!"

She opened her eyes to find Hisagi frowning sadly, almost guiltily at her. Beside her, Karin stared down at her feet in silence. Wordlessly, her twin took her hand and the pair began to walk away from Hisagi and all the way home in a miserable silence.

Hisagi showed up on their doorstep later that evening looking like a thoroughly kicked dog. "I know I shouldn't be bothering you, but you two have been on your own for several days now. If I'm troubling you, I'll turn around and go back to the Soul Society right now." He greeted Yuzu with a bow. Yuzu did not reply. She simply held the door open wider to let him inside. "Dinner's almost ready. I'll have Karin bring down some blankets so you can sleep on the couch tonight." She informed the soul reaper listlessly as she returned to the kitchen, leaving him alone in the family room.

Dinner was an awkward affair and everything following it was much worse. Karin locked herself up in the twins' bedroom within a minute of setting her fork down. Yuzu began to wash the dishes, dismissing Hisagi's offers to help, sending him retreating into the family room to sit awkwardly on the couch in silence. When Yuzu was done with the dishes, she walked out into the family room to find Hisagi pulling on his leather jacket and biker boots. "Leaving so soon?" She asked in surprise and with some guilt. She hated to think she had driven him out so quickly with her and her sister's coldness.

Hisagi shook his head, thankfully. "You left your bike back at the school, right? I had gone by the bike racks to wait for you, since your father said you rode your bike to and from school. I'll go get it for you." He said. "You don't have to do that." Replied Yuzu. "No, let me." Hisagi insisted. "It's the least I can do."

"At least let me go with you so no one thinks you're stealing it." Yuzu suggested. Hisagi hesitantly conceded. Yuzu threw on a jacket and the two left, leaving a note for Karin on the coffee table in case she emerged from her and Yuzu's bedroom later.

The sun was setting on Karakura Town when they set out for the school. It was too beautiful for Yuzu's melancholy mood and it made her think of things she really didn't want to. "Are sunsets in your world like the ones here?" She asked after a long, tense silence between her and Hisagi. "Yes. Identical really. Things really aren't as different as you might think between our two worlds." He softly replied. Yuzu nodded, pleased somewhat by his answer.

"That's good. Does that mean you have the same foods in the Soul Society as here?"

"Well, not all foods. Modern human foods, no, not really. Only soul reapers and nobles can import those sort of things. Older dishes are a different story."

"Like instant ramen and potato chips?"

"Yeah, kind of like that, I guess. Those are those noodles you put in a mircowavey-thingy, right? And those thin, crispy potato slices?"

"Yes, yes, exactly." Yuzu said, cracking a smile. "You can make traditional Japanese dishes there, right? That's what you meant by 'older dishes', yes?" She pressed.

"Of course." Answered Hisagi. He eyed her curiously. "Why do you ask?"

"Hisagi, sir," Yuzu said, halting in the middle of the path they were walking along the levys by the river. Hisagi stopped walking and stared at her. Yuzu gulped, sending her heart back down into her chest. "Mr. Hisagi, I'd like you to take me to the Soul Society. That way I can still make him his welcome home meal." She braced herself for Hisagi's response.

"Yuzu, he's not coming home, you know that." Hisagi protested. "You can't just visit him like he's in the hospital."

"But he is home. The Soul Society is his home now. Whether he likes it or not." Yuzu stated matter-of-factly. "But he does like it, doesn't he, Hisagi. He loves his new friends and their world, maybe even more than he loves his life in the human world. He's given nearly everything to protect them and the Soul Society from hollows and quincies and that Aizen guy. This was inevitable really, wasn't it?" Yuzu hadn't stopped thinking about it since Karin dragged her out of that alley earlier. This was meant to be. Fate. There was no other way of explaining it, truthfully.

"Yuzu, please don't think your brother wanted to leave you." Hisagi pleaded. Yuzu shook her head. "I don't believe that, Hisagi. I just have been thinking that I can't bear to not be part of what my brother, as well as my father probably, consider home. I think Karin feels the same way. She feels like a freak here sometimes, being able to see and hear things normal people can't. I can only see the outlines of spirits, so I can hardly imagine what it's like for her. Maybe she'd be better off in the Soul Society."

"Are you seriously suggesting that you and your sister come and live in the seireitei?" Hisagi asked with wide eyes. Yuzu met his bewildered gaze with determination. "That's exactly what I'm saying, Mr. Hisagi. So please, will you take me and Karin to the Soul Society?" She pleaded, praying Hisagi would say yes. Several painstaking seconds stretched into a nerve-wracking minute and a half. The soul reaper took a deep breath at long last and quietly answered her.

* * *

Midoriko was just finishing up the dishes from dinner when there was a distinct rhythmic knock at her front door. "Yuzu?" Midoriko whispered with a furrowed brow as she pulled off her rubber gloves. She went to the front door, shooing away her father. "It's Yuzu. I recognize the knock." She said. Her father nodded and returned to the living room to watch Don Kanonji with her mom and sister. Midoriko opened the door with a bright smile for her friend.

"Yuzu, you're a little late, but I'm sure my parents will-" Midoriko's mouth snapped shut at the sight of the punk from earlier standing behind Yuzu on her front doorstep. "I'm sorry, Midoriko, but I didn't come over for a sleepover." Yuzu apologized. "Why are you here then?" Midoriko asked, casting one last suspicious look at the punk before focusing on her friend.

"I came to say goodbye." Yuzu said. Midoriko looked at her with confusion and surprise.

"Are you going somewhere?" Yuzu nodded with a smile, though the corners of her eyes were brimmed with unshed tears. "Me and Karin are going to go see Ichigo and our dad. I won't be at school tomorrow or..." Yuzu's smile disappeared and she pulled Mihou into a tight hug. "I just wanted to say goodbye before I left." She said in Midoriko's ear. Yuzu pulled away, once again smiling, but in a sad way that made Midoriko worried.

"Goodbye, Midoriko." Yuzu said, turning around and walking away with her cousin Hisagi (though Midoriko suddenly very much doubted that the two were really related). "It would have been nice to have one last sleepover." Yuzu stopped and called over her shoulder before she disappeared around the tall stone walls surrounding the Toono home.

With those words, Midoriko was suddenly struck with overwhelming worry for her friend's safety. "Yuzu, wait!" She shouted and she rushed towards the gates and out onto the street. She looked up and down the street for any sign of her friend and the punk, but all she saw was dim street lamps and darkness.

* * *

Yuzu and Karin Kurosaki didn't come to school the next day, or the day after. Each day for two weeks, Midoriko and Karin's friends swung by the Kurosaki Clinic after school. A 'closed' sign always greeted them at the Clinic doors, and ringing their doorbell proved useless. Midoriko's parents were the ones to finally call the police and a short-lived investigation was launched. Midoriko was eventually asked by the police when she last saw Yuzu and her sister. She told them about the late night goodbye Yuzu gave her and the punk boy from earlier that day. They also asked about her father and brother, and Midoriko explained Mr. Kurosaki and Ichigo were apparently looking at a university up north. Rumors started floating around about a gang being responsible for the Kurosaki's disappearance after that.

It was Ichigo's school friends and his employer who put an end to the investigation. The Kurosaki's had moved to Isshin Kurosaki's hometown apparently, closer to Ichigo's university of choice. They'd all gone to visit him recently, in fact, and presented the police with photos of all the Kurosaki's, alive and well, as evidence. Midoriko and Karin's friends got Ichigo's friends Tatsuki and Keigo to show them some of the pictures. They were at a festival in the pictures. Midoriko didn't know why else everyone in the pictures were all wearing such old fashioned clothes.

Tatsuki let Midoriko keep one of the pictures for herself. It was a photo of Yuzu and her sister. Karin was dressed a red and white antiquated-looking outfit that Tatsuki said was actually a school uniform and Yuzu was dressed in pink, flowery kimono and holding that old lion stuffed animal of hers, which strangely looked to bee wrestling to get out of her arms in the picture. Midoriko has asked Tatsuki for the Kurosaki's phone number, so she could call Yuzu, but Tatsuki said that the Kurosaki's weren't quite settled in yet and didn't have a phone line set up yet. She promised to get it to her as soon they did, however.

Tatsuki and the rest of Ichigo's friends left for university shortly after that, and Midoriko never got the Kurosaki's phone number, or even the name of the town they'd moved to. In the end, all Midoriko had left to remind her of her friend was a picture, the abandoned Kurosaki Clinic, and Yuzu's old pink bike, which remained chained up at the racks at school. Eventually Midoriko lost the picture. And the clinic was eventually sold to another doctor and his family, the name Kurosaki being stripped from the building and replaced a new one. The bike rusted in the school yard throughout the rest of Midoriko's middle school career, right alongside Karin's until the latter was stolen.

In high school, Midoriko pushed the old pink bike out of her mind with limited success. _The school's certainly removed it from the racks by now_, she always told herself when she found herself thinking about her disappeared friend. Midoriko completely forgot about the bike during her university years, though she never forgot the owner. She was surprised beyond comprehension when she returned to her old middle school years later as a teacher to find the bike still there, rusted as it was.

It was painful to see that bike everyday. She wondered why it was still there and finally asked one of her old teachers why it hadn't been removed after all these years. Midoriko wasn't the only one who thought that perhaps something more sinister had befallen the Kurosaki family than Ichigo's friends let on. The bike stood as a memorial to Yuzu and her sister. After being told that, Midoriko became grateful for the bike's constant reminder of its lost owner.

One day, during lunch break, Midoriko was eating alone in her classroom near the window, as there was a cherry blossom tree in the school yard near the bike racks that she liked to admire. She and Yuzu and their other friends used to eat under it when they were students. It was while watching the blossoms slowly fall from the tree as she enjoyed her packed lunch that Midoriko spotted the unthinkable: someone was trying to take Yuzu's bike off the racks.

Midoriko immediately rushed to put a stop to this.

"You there!" She shouted as she approached the racks and the young woman fiddling with the combination lock on the bike. "Stop that right this instance. That doesn't belong to you." She warned the culprit, who looked up then. Midoriko stopped dead in her tracks as the young woman before her froze. They looked at each other with wide eyes.

"Yuzu?" Midoriko gasped, not daring to believe what she was seeing. A young woman stood before her who looked like the Yuzu she'd once known, hardly aged more than a few years. She was dressed in a long pink skirt with white flowers and yellow sweater, something that Yuzu definitely would have worn. Her hair was longer than Yuzu's had been, down to the small of her back, but it was held out her face in a low-pony-tail with a pink hair tie. The young woman was the spitting image of a sixteen year-old Yuzu Kurosaki.

"Midoriko, I," The Yuzu-clone stopped short of herself, her short-lived smile dying on her lips. She looked between the rusted bike and Midoriko. "Yuzu, we should be going. Unless you want me to replace her memories, you should leave the bike and we should return home." A man's voice suddenly said. Mihou turned around to see yet another ghost. It was the punk from fifteen years ago, Hisagi. Only..._no, _Midoriko thought. This man was too young, just like the Yuzu look-alike to actually be Yuzu. They had the same scar and tattoos, but that..._doesn't mean anything_, Midoriko thought desperately. At least the Hisagi-clone had the grace not to dress like the punk Hisagi. He donned black slacks and dress shoes, and a white collared-shirt. His hair was also a bit less punk-rock-ish.

"Fine, let's go. It was nice seeing Karakura Town again, even if the visit was short. Thank you for bringing me, Hisagi." The Yuzu-look-alike said sadly, walking past Midoriko to join the Hisagi-clone's side. Midoriko looked at the pair with wide eyes as they started towards the schoolyard side gates. A scene from many years ago flashed before her eyes.

"Yuzu, wait!" She called, chasing after the pair. And just like fifteen years ago, once out on the street, she saw no sign of her friend or her mysterious companion. For the first time since she was a little girl, Midoriko believed in ghosts.

* * *

**AN: I hope you enjoyed this. **

**BTW Midoriko Toona is actually a canon character from the Bleach manga. She disappeared from the series after the introduction arc, however.**

**Please review! They encourage me to write more!**


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